UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- "From the Ground Up: Building a Better Environment" is the theme for this year's Ag Progress Days, Aug. 14-16. Sponsored by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, the event is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Pa. Route 45.

Special exhibits this year will feature research and educational programs designed to protect our natural resources while enhancing agricultural profitability and human health. Displays will focus on converting agricultural wastes and byproducts to energy; water issues for the farm, home and community; growing small farms through niche markets; protecting and restoring wetlands; and preventing ag pollution through quality assurance programs.

Activities planned for this year's event include a farm equipment manufacturers' "show-and-tell," a skid steer rodeo, a special high-tunnel vegetable production tour and a farm vehicle and equipment highway safety workshop.

Field demonstrations will feature hay mowing, baling, bale handling, haylage chopping and bagging, and rakes and tedders. In addition, three specialty line equipment companies will demonstrate a variety of equipment, such as planters, forage mixers, loaders, bale processors and forage platforms.

Other exhibits, tours and workshops will feature cutting-edge research and information on crops and soils, animal science, dairy and livestock production, integrated pest management, farm safety, conservation practices and woodlot management. More than 340 commercial and noncommercial exhibitors also will be on hand to display the latest goods and services.

In addition, a variety of family and consumer-oriented attractions are planned, including family living exhibits and demonstrations, a corn maze, cut flower beds and exhibits, storytelling, horse exhibitions, live animal and insect displays, lawn and garden advice, a tree-climbing adventure, and a museum of antique farm and home implements.

Because of concerns over the possible transmission of foot-and-mouth disease and other foreign animal diseases, visitors who have been overseas within two weeks of attending Ag Progress Days are asked not to visit the event's live-animal exhibit areas.

Ag Progress Days hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 14; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 15; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 16. Admission and parking are free.

For more information, call (800) PSU-1010 toll-free from July 9 to August 16 or visit the Ag Progress Days Web site at http://apd.cas.psu.edu.

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Bob Oberheim, Ag Progress Days manager, at 814-865-2081 or 814-692-5262.

Contacts:

Chuck Gill cdg5@psu.edu 814-863-2713 814-865-1068 fax